Last Call: One-Man Hamlet, A Gritty Greenwich Village And Brazilian Elections

The Classical Theatre Company's well-received production of Hamlet comes to a close on Sunday; it's a show we highly recommend.

An original one-man adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet stars Guy Roberts, who adapted the piece and also co-directed with John Johnston. During the ninety-minute production, Roberts plays eighteen different characters. (A few scenes and minor characters have been cut, but Hamlet's story remains intact.) Roberts manages to jump from one character to another with just a toss of his head or a change in his voice, making it easy for the audience to keep up.

The production's stage set is simple: there's just a cot, a couple of chairs and a sink onstage. Oh, and a toilet.

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Originally from Texas, Roberts splits his time between the U.S. and the Czech Republic where he is Artistic Director of the Prague Shakespeare Festival. Roberts was last in town during the Houston Shakespeare Festival.

Classical Theatre Company's a small troupe and they mount just a few shows a year, but don't let CTC's size fool you. They produce energetic, well-done work few other small companies would dare attempt. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday. and Sunday. HITS Theatre, 311 West 18th Street. For information, call 713-963-9665 or visit www.classicaltheatre.org. $7 to $15.

Landscape of the Body over at University of Houston's School of Theatre and Dance has a short three-day run, but it's worth the effort to catch. Performed in the MFAH Studio, a 50-seat theater, Landscape was directed by Cheramie Howe. Earlier she spoke with Night + Day and described the show as "sort of a dark comedy. It's not in [chronological] order. There's music, there's sex, there's decapitations, just all sorts of things. It's kinda gritty, it's kinda raw and it's kinda dirty. And nobody's apologizing for it." The story centers on Betty and her son, small town folks who've come to Greenwich Village where they discover "that murder, crime, and porn are the standard of life." 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun. For information, call 713-743-292 or visit www.theatredance.uh.edu. Free.

And our final recommendation for this weekend is The New Latin American Left Film Festival at Rice University. Today's 5 p.m. screening is Intermissions, a behind-the-scenes look at Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's 2002 campaign (his fourth bid for the office). Sunday's 7 p.m. screening is Cocalero, a chronicle of Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, who makes a bid to become Bolivia's first indigenous president. Supported by the Movement to Socialism party and coca leaf farmers, Morales makes his way through the country's most isolated regions asking for votes. Rice University Media Center, 6100 Main. For information, call 713-348-4882 or visit www.ricecinema.rice.edu. Free.